Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis is a poetry collection narrating the journey of a young woman growing into her true self. Much like the growth of a butterfly, people go through a process of finding their own wings– and sometimes building them themselves. This concept shows that sometimes one needs to break in order to heal. There is one line that captures the essence of this book perfectly, “even butterflies begin on the ground before reaching for the sky.” Thus, this poetry collection will encourage the reader to find strength and beauty in their personal journey of growing from brokenness and seeking their true self.

There are two sections in the book: “Crawling” and “Flying.” These sections portray the steps of metamorphosis. A butterfly begins as a caterpillar: earthly and perhaps average. But then, after finding its truest form, it is almost a magical being. Its colorful wings against the blue skies are flying miracles as reminders of what we are capable of. This is a magical process. Just like butterflies, hearts may be shattered but throughout Metamorphosis they will find the strength to fly and heal.

Crawling

“Crawling” focuses on unrequited love, heartbreak, and loss. Throughout our lives, there will be moments when we break– whether it is in the process of loving someone else or learning to love ourselves. These poems narrate my own journey through those moments of heartbreak. I hope this section allows readers to understand that even the low parts of life exist to teach us how to fly.

Flying

“Flying” deals with finding the true meaning of love, the discovery of self, and the healing powers of poetry and art. In other words, it shows why the crawling was necessary before achieving happiness. As hard as it might be to understand at certain points, breaking helps us realize our worth, realize our strength, and realize that we are capable of healing. We are our own heroes.

Most of the inspiration for this book comes from my own personal journey. However, the metaphors are mainly grounded in art, literature, nature, traveling, and people. You will encounter several poems related to art mainly as metaphors or symbols. There is one line that captures this side of my writing, “one thing I wish I would have known is that today, you would whisper poetry into my ear for all I ever wanted was to be the poem and not always the poet.”

These were instances in my everyday life where I found poetry leaking into my mind. I believe that even poets, always want to become poems. As poets, we have the power to write people into eternity. Even if they will only live among the pages of my journal, they will still be written into eternity. Yet we crave to become someone else’s poems too. Love should feel like poetry. Happiness should feel like poetry.

The following poem is in the back cover of Metamorphosis. It is also the poem that captures the purpose behind my poetry collection.

Butterfly

Life is a constant process
of assimilating our surroundings,
understanding our emotions, and
seeking our deepest desires.
Each being is a butterfly. I am
a butterfly. A being grown
from its purest form into who
I choose to become— the metamorphosis
of life. When my reflection
attracted tears, I looked away
because what matters the most
is not our faults but what we do
to change them, not our fears
but how we fight them. I hope
one day we all become who
we want to be, until then
don’t punish yourself for
what you are not— just keep
growing. Remember, even butterflies
begin on the ground before
reaching for the sky.